Hamilton High West passes inspection after board raises health concerns

After more than half an hour of concerns expressed at the last school board meeting — and comparisons to a condemned state prison — Hamilton decided it will not close down parts of Hamilton High West.

Jeff Plunkett, the township’s chief health department officer, said he visited the school Thursday morning, but did not recommend closing portions of the school. He did ask that the school remove an old, rusted, leaking radiator from a coaches’ area near the men’s locker room.

“They were doing exactly what we require them to do,” he said.

Plunkett said he noted issues with sewer drainage in one of the locker rooms that could spill out to other portions of the building, such as a coaches’ area and the school’s wrestling room. He said though, that as long as the school closes off those areas when the flooding happens and cleans up properly before reopening, it did not present a health risk.

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“In that sense it is no different than when some business’ sump pump goes out,” he said.

The board authorized more than $100,000 in improvements and repairs at the school last year, but Superintendent James Parla said the work has to wait for warmer temperatures to begin. Parla said the problems at Hamilton High West are just some of the many issues the district needs to address in its aging infrastructure.

At Wednesday’s board meeting, Board Vice President Joe Malagrino questioned the safety of the building. He said the district needed to address those problems immediately before voting for the resolution that brought on Plunkett’s inspection.

“It is in shambles and it is not fair and it is not right and I am amazed I have not heard from more parents complaining about the conditions in that school,” Malagrino said. “There are parts of that building that should be condemned.”

Board Member Stephanie Pratico, who made the motion, said Wednesday the district should close down the areas of the school if there is any question about their safety.

“You cannot put the health and safety of the students at risk,” she said. “Until he can get there, close everything down. This is ridiculous.”

Plunkett said the district was addressing the sewage backup properly. He said the old building — it opened in 1919 — had problems with properly draining water during heavy rain, which would allow sewage to back up into the locker rooms. He said the district did its best to contain the flooding through sandbags and would then go back and sanitize the entire locker rooms before reopening them.